Museums & Collections

Discover treasures from Harvard’s museums and special collections, from ancient artifacts to modern art.

Nineteenth-century prison ruins with brick guardhouse surrounded by forest.

This Connecticut Mine Was Once a Prison

The underground Old New-Gate Prison quickly became “a school for crime.”

by Nell Porter-Brown

Harvard Art Museums celebrates American Paintings at Harvard

Lecture celebrates the release of American Art at Harvard, Volume One

Members of the Harvard community and area residents celebrated the official opening of the Harvard Art Museums on November 16.

The renovated Harvard Art Museums open

The renovated Harvard Art Museums open

The renovated and expanded Harvard Art Museums have entrances on both Quincy and Prescott Streets. The staff of the Museums hopes that casual passersby will filter through the building and gather in its central courtyard.

A preview of the Harvard Art Museums

Welcoming the University community through a series of special talks and celebrations, the Harvard Art Museums re-introduce themselves.

Additional photographs of the Harvard Art Museums' galleries

Additional images of the Harvard Art Museums galleries

This gallery's collection conveys the breadth of nineteenth-century collectors’ international interests, by grouping together works by Sargent, Munch, and Degas, among others.

Discussing the role of the university museum before a November launch

Panelists bring their perspective to the long-awaited reopening of the Harvard Art Museums.

Photographs of abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe and her son Samuel, who died at 18 months

Schlesinger Library's new exhibit showcases the Civil War's personal histories

A Schlesinger Library exhibit reveals the domestic side of the war.

Scene from an 1858 German album

Silhouettes from Harvard’s Houghton Library displayed

All that’s needed are scissors and a steady hand.

by Christopher Reed

The Wellesley College greenhouses offer winter pleasures like this fuchsia moth orchid.

The Wellesley College Botanic Gardens offer an escape from winter

The greenhouses at Wellesley College Botanic Gardens offer greenery and blossoms in winter.

A Nisga’a club is armed with whale teeth (British Columbia)

Harvard’s Peabody Museum displays artfully decorated weapons in its collection

A new exhibit at Harvard’s Peabody Museum highlights decorative weaponry through the ages.

A former carpet factory (top left) was renovated to house the Museum of Russian Icons.

The Museum of Russian Icons offers art, education, and performances

Gilded icons, stark portraits, and a warm tea room

by Nell Porter-Brown